The Start of it All
by MrMRMcGrath
Summary: The story of young Bradley Murphy, who, until the age of 11 thought he was just like everyone else... until that fateful letter arrived. A next generation Harry Potter fanfiction, from a completely unique perspective. This will hopefully be the first of a series of books on Brad!
1. Chapter 1: A Strange Birthday Card

Disclaimer:

I don't own any of J.K Rowling's characters or places! I only own the characters I created!

Note:

Please feel free to fiercely criticize my writing! It is extremely helpful to have honest views on it.

Chapter 1: A Strange Birthday Card

_One, two, three… _he jumped, from 12 meters, landing incredibly, unbelievably on his feet without even a wince of pain, or the crack of a breaking bone!

Bradley Murphy was a boy who NEVER refused a dare… why? Simply because he never seemed to get hurt no matter what it was, he just had to want to succeed at whatever the dare was badly enough and he would. He couldn't explain it, nor could other kids. All he knew is he was practically king-of-the-school in elementary school, and he certainly was none to worried about heading off to high school next summer, he was certain he would be just as looked up to, and praised there as he was here. He started to head off home, walking jauntily a mischievous smile on his dirty face. He was a normal height for his age, with a broad figure and dark-brunette hair. His eyes were another thing that set him apart from his fellow 10 year old friends… one stormy grey eye, one emerald green… he couldn't explain it, no one could.

It was his birthday the next day, and he had suspected, ever since a few days ago that they all wanted him out of the house to get presents done etc. so he had obliged… after all, who was he to get in the way when there were presents involved! The day of June 23rd was his birthday, a day he looked forward too unreservedly each year. Because it meant the whole family would be home, the twins, who were 20 and both at university, always made the time to come home for his birthday. So it was with a light heart that he entered the house whistling a jaunty tune. "Oh, it's you" a voice sneered, "I thought it was a cat being slowly tortured."

"Oh your one to talk Sarah! At least I can get noise out of my mouth unlike YOU!"

His older sister, at the age of 13 she had taken extreme prejudice to the fact that he was so popular in town and decided to take it out on him whenever she could.

"How dare you! You little twerp! Why I'll…."

"You'll what Sarah?" he jeered "Shout at me some more? Ooooo maybe you will call all your friends and moan to them about me… scary!"

"You little…" but she stopped before she could go any further, their father had just walked in.

"Ahhhh, how are my angels doing today?" He asked in a strong Irish accent.

"Great Da, how was work?" Sarah said quickly, evidently attempting to make it look like nothing had just gone on between her and Brad. "Same as always thanks love. Now where's Doreen?" Doreen was their mother, standing at 5'9" she was the beauty of the neighbourhood, her blue eyes, dark hair, and model shaped body made her a stunning figure. This, however, made her no less homely and loving, indeed, Brad often thought (with that unnatural intelligence, and understanding that only a few children are ever gifted with) what a perfect life he had, with a loving family around him, barring Sarah perhaps but he often told himself, she'll come round eventually!

He made his way upstairs to his room, it was small, but that's the way he liked it, littered with all the things he loved. His clothes, his swimsuit, his posters of famous athletes, of course his massive poster of Gareth Bale, Tottenham Hotspurs star winger the posters were stuck on every available bit of wall space. He loved it, with the sloping roof, the skylight, and the window that looked across the meadow at the back of their house. One of his favourite hobbies was to climb out of this window and jump into the grass pile below, and then sneak up on his sister while she sat listening to music, oblivious to the rest of the world.

It was with great excitement then, that he climbed into bed that night switching off his light, and stared out of his skylight at the twinkling stars, as he slowly drifted off to sleep he saw something very strange, an owl sitting on the sill of the skylight, staring down at him with large yellow eyes, almost as if it knew who he was, and all about him. But no! That was silly, it was just an owl looking through his window, nothing strange about that, after all there were quite a few owls in the area around this time of year.

The next morning he woke up and, without a thought about the owl the night before, he jumped out of bed and headed down stairs with a broad grin on his face. The smell of cooking waffles met his nostrils and he sighed with pleasure, he loved waffles.

"Good morning dear! Happy Birthday!" His mother called over the sound of boiling water. "Thanks Ma!" He replied turning a shining face up to her.

"Well… sit down and have breakfast first then we can do your presents!"

"Mam?"

"Yes dear?"

"The twins… aren't they coming?" His mother looked forlorn at his words.

"I'm so sorry dear, I meant to tell you, but they can't make it… I'm sorry love!"

"Na, mam, don't worry… it'll be fine." Again Doreen had that strange feeling she got sometimes that it was her son, her newly 11 year old son, who was comforting her, instead of the other way round.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the post. "Only three letters today Brad, here, ones for you… it does look strange." She gave it to him and he examined it. On the front of the envelope his address was written in old fashioned emerald ink:

_Mr. Bradley Lewis Murphy_

_11 Puddlesmere dr._

_The small room at the top of the stairs._

_Limerick_

_Munster_

_The Republic of Ireland_

_United Kingdom_

_Europe_

_The World_

The colour of the envelope was that of old parchment. "This is weird, it doesn't say who it's from mam!"

"Well, umm, open it I guess… only way your going to find out!"

"Right!"

He opened it with slightly trembling hands, and half curious, half apprehensive look on his face. The letter was the same type of paper as the envelope, and the same slanted hand had written the words, again in emerald ink.

_Dear Mr. Murphy,_

_Headmistress: Mz. Rosaline Hawthoorn_

_(Order of Merlin 1__st__ class, Deputy Head Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Chairwoman of the international witches rights committee.)_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizadry"._

_You will find the list of all necessary books and equipment enclosed._

_Term starts on September 1. We expect a confirmation Owl no later then the 31__st__ of June._

_Yours sincerely_

_Mz. Hermione Weasley _

_Deputy Headmistress_

_P.S We understand that as your family are muggles (non-magical people) and you no doubt thought yourself a muggle to this point, you will probably be suspicious as to the origin, and real meaning of this letter. Therefore you can expect a visit from a Hogwarts teacher before the end of the month_

_Bellow is the list of all the required supplies and books for your first school year:_

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL__  
__of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY _

_UNIFORM__  
__First-year students will require:__  
__ sets of plain work robes (black)__  
__ plain pointed hat (black) for day wear__  
__ pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)__  
__ winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)__  
__Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags._

_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

_The standard book of spells (Grade 1) – By Miranda Goshawk _

_A History of Magic – By Bathilda Bagshot_

_Magical Theory for the New Age – By Hermione Weasley_

_A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration – By Emeric Switch_

_One Thousand and One Magical Herbs and Fungi by Neville Longbottom _

_Magical Drafts and Potions for Beginners – By Horace Slughorn_

_Beautiful beasts or Dangerous Monsters? – By Rubeus Hagrid (actual writing by Hermione Weasley, orated by Rubeus Hagrid)_

_The Dark Arts: A Guide to Defence Against the Dark Arts for 1__st__ years – By Harry Potter_

_Students are also allowed either an Owl, a Cat, or a Toad._

_Parents are reminded that 1__st__ years are not allowed a broom of their own in Hogwarts._

_Other Equipment:_

_1 wand__  
__1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)__  
__1 set glass or crystal phials__  
__1 telescope__  
__1 set brass scales_

_1 Sneak-o-scope_

_All items may be purchased in Diagon Alley._

Brad stopped reading his heart in his mouth, confused, and dazed.

"What does it mean?"

His mother only shook her head speechless…

"Do you think its for real mam? I mean all the things I can do, how I never seem to get hurt" he said earnestly, and then as an afterthought "How I turned Sarah's hair green that time." He added this last part with a grin.

"I don't know… no, it can't be, I'm sorry Brad it must be a prank, maybe from the twins, you know they are always playing pranks!"

"Mam, who ever heard of these places…? That's allot to make up for one prank!"

"Well, listen we will wait to the end of the month and see if anyone turns up like the letter said… okay? And honey!"

"Yes mam?"

"Until we know let's not mention this to the others okay?"

"Sure mam!"

Inside her mind she was in turmoil, she knew, for sure that this was a load of crap that someone had shoved through their door as a prank… all the same, it was allot to make up for a prank, and that paper and old fashioned ink cost a fortune. So maybe…? Nah, she'd just have to wait and see, like Brad, if anyone turned up!"


	2. Chapter 2: Poppers Poppington

Chapter 2: Poppers Poppington

The days dragged by for Brad approaching the end of June, he couldn't help but hope, no matter how many times he told himself it was impossible… that maybe? Maybe someone would come.

It was the 28th of July when there was a sharp rap on the door, Brad, being the only one in the living room went to open it. Outside stood a man like he had never seen before, he was about 5'7", bespectacled, he had a sprinkling of prickly grey hairs on his head, a squashed looking face, and a bit of a belly. However it wasn't his build so much as his garb that so entranced Brad, a turquoise robe with little pictures of what looked like broomsticks all over it, and a peeked, silver hat which was grasped in his hands.

"Now, I understand why you look so bewildered, but never fear! I am the visitor from Hogwarts promised in your letter… you did get your letter didn't you?"

"Y-yes, but…" Brad stammered before the jovial little man broke in.

"Good, good! Then that should tell you just about all you need to know about school supplies, rules etc. but I realise that up until this point you thought of yourself as a muggle, and that all the rest of your family are muggles. So, I have come here to explain about this a little, if you could just call your parents then we can get started."

"Umm, yeah, okay… just hold on a minute." Brad pulled out his cell-phone and texted his mother.

"Well, aren't you going to get her?" The little man inquired with a slight tone of timidity.

"I just did, I texted her."

"Texted? I'm afraid I don't understand my dear boy!"

"Oh? Ummm, okay, you've never heard of texting before? Or cell-phones?"

"I can't say I have!"

"Wow, okay they must not have phones… were your from." Brad said incredulously.

"You will have to explain it to me another time! This charming woman looks like your mother!" Brad turned around and sure enough his mother was coming down the stairs.

"Hello, so you are?" She inquired,

"Oh! Terribly sorry, my manners! I am Poppers Poppington, Professor of Muggle Studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"P-pleased to meet you" she stammered a slightly perplexed look on her face,

"I'm Doreen Murphy, Bradley's mother."

"Delighted, delighted!" Poppers enthused "Now is the Brad's father coming or have you still got to texit him on your phellsone?" He inquired with obvious pride in his knew knowledge of the terms.

"I'm sorry…" Doreen began before Bradley cut her off, obviously foreseeing a confusing exchange.

"My fathers not here at the minute Mr. Poppington, I'm terribly sorry, he's in Edinburgh, he gets back tomorrow."

"O well, can't be helped. I'll just have to talk to you two and you can convey what I say to him tomorrow. Now, I know you will be rather surprised at my coming, probably put the letter down to some prank played by a muggle boy!" He chuckled at the surprised looks on their faces, "Oh, yes I have done this job quite a few times; I know the ways muggles will find to get around the facts! Anyway, if you are to decide to come to Hogwarts, which we implore you to do, a Hogwarts teacher will arrive on the 15th of August to show you how to get to Diagon Alley, which is in London by the way, and help you purchase your stuff. Also, he'll take you to King's Cross and show you how to board platform 9 ¾. Then he'll bring you back here, now, on the 30th of August we recommend that you stay at the Leaky Cauldron and then on the 1st of September you can make your way to King's Cross and enter platform 9 ¾ the way the teacher will show you on the 15th, the train leaves at 11:00 AM sharp. So, any questions?" There was a stunned silence while the clock on the wall ticked noisily.

"Umm, yes, how much are the fees, and what is the average amount spent on equipment each year, also, I will have to discuss with my husband you see, on a matter so… ummm, life changing."

"I quite understand! On pricing, well I'm not sure what it is in muggle money we can work that out in a minute, okay, it's 200 Galleons a year to attend Hogwarts, and you will probably end up spending about 50 Galleons a year on supplies. So, changing that into muggle money that would be…" And to their astonishment he pulled out something that looked like a smooth, short, stout stick from his pocket and pointed it in the air muttering under his breath "calculus muggle." Shining digits appeared in mid-air, ahh right, that would be…" and he rattled off the currency exchange to Mrs. Murphy, but Brad wasn't listening anymore, he was picturing it in his mind, going to a school to learn to use magic! It was like a fairytale come true! He'd just have to convince Da, that might be hard, but he thought he could bring him round and then… it was almost to good to be true, he just had to go, he had to! He was jerked back to the present time by the short man, saying "Right, I really must be off! Got 5 more families to visit before lunch! One in Wales, three in England, and One in Scotland, deary me, okay I'll be gone now, and do, do accept." With these last imploring words, he turned around and seemed to take a step into… into nothing, he just disappeared. Mrs. Murphy screeched in surprise, looking utterly dumbfounded. She walked back into the living room and sat down, "Wow, that was… unbelievable." She stated after a pause of about 3 minutes, "I know right, Mam, I really want to go… please?"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple Brad, when your Dad gets back from Edinburgh with Sarah tomorrow we'll chat okay?"

"Sure Mam, but you can convince him right? This is amazing, I mean, I also wasn't sure till I saw that man disappear like that, and do those calculations in the air. It was amazing!

"It was, I agree, but you know that some optical illusionists are very clever these days Brad, maybe it was that?"

"Mam, no-one could do that without magic!"

"I know, I know, I guess I am just trying to find ways around it now, it just goes against everything I've ever thought or believed."

"Mam, do you think you can get Da to agree?"

"I don't know, Brad, but I'll try, your fathers a reasonable man I don't think it should be too hard, though if it's been a tough trip for him I might have to give him some time."

"Oh, yeah and another thing, if we accept how do we contact them to let them know? In the letter it said something about a return owl? What does that mean?"

"Don't you remember? You must have stopped listening when he was talking about the price, he said it just after, that an owl would arrive on the 31st and we were to tie our reply to the owls right leg, and it would turn around and take the reply back to the school."

"So they have trained owls to take letters for them? That's amazing! Mam, I HAVE to go, I just HAVE to!"

"I'll do what I can okay Brad? I will do what I can, just trust me to talk to your father, don't spring it on him as soon as he gets home… let me handle it."

"Okay Mam, thanks."


	3. Chapter 3: Decisions

Here is CHAPTER 3! Short but necessary ;)!

Chapter 3: Decisions

"Love! I don't want him going to any freak school! Even if it is real, which I highly doubt, NO! We aren't going to let him, I don't care what you saw! Optical illusionists dear! They are extremely skilled at 'disappearing'."

"Listen Cliff! I know what I saw, it was amazing Cliff, it was beyond any doubt! He didn't do it as a show either, he did it almost nonchalantly, without thinking!"

"That's what he must have wanted you to think… Honestly dear I never thought you would fall for such cheap trickery!" For a second Doreen's eyes flashed, she was a brilliant judge of character, of people, and of how they behave, and she had seen deep, definite honesty in Poppers Poppington's face.

"Dear, you know that I am not easy to trick, from much experience I might add, and I know that he was telling the truth, every word of it. Now, I don't care what you say but Brad has got to go dear, you have to understand! This is his big chance, he will forever be living with the knowledge of something that might have been. You can't put him through that, Cliff, it would just be cruel." Her voice was steady, yet it had a certain commanding quality about it.

"Doreen, I don't know, it's too risky. You hear the stories in the paper about kidnappings, and kids being tricked into doing things and then snatched. I can't let that happen to Brad!"

"I told you already! Poppers Poppington is no kidnapper! He thoroughly believed what he said! Dear let's at least write back to Hogwarts, tell them he's coming, then go with them on the 15th and see if it's all real okay?" She looked ready to fight all night if need be and Cliff knew his wife too well, it was useless, she was as stubborn as she was beautiful, he gave in with shrug of his head.

"Fine, go, but I'm not coming, it's on your head now okay? Take Brad on the 15th, just make sure you bring him back, if it's all legit then he can go. But once again I am having no part in it, if it's legit, then on the 30th of August YOU are taking him, not me, I am carrying on work as usual!" He hoped this final argument would sway his wife, but his hope was in vain.

"Fine" her mouth formed a hard line as she stared him down, "I will go with him, I will help him every step of the way!"

"Okay, just don't let me hear any of it, when you go to London you are going to see your sister, and when you go to take him to "school" you are going to take him to George's High, on 3rd st. okay? That's what we tell people."

"I didn't know there was a George's High?"

"There isn't! That's the point, if all this happens to be true, we don't want anyone to know of Brad's 'abnormality' do we?" For a second Doreen stared at him, almost to shocked to believe it as her eyes filled with tears she turned around and walked quickly from the room.

"Brad!" Her choked voice echoed through the house from where she stood in the living room.

"Yeah! Up in my room!" She turned, and headed towards the staircase. When she reached Brad's room she knocked on the door with rather more force then intended. He opened it quickly and admitted her, she sat on his bed and was silent for a few seconds.

"Mam?" His voice quavered slightly as he spoke.

"Brad, listen, you can go I convinced your father."

"Brilliant Mam, but… what are you upset about."

"Brad, your Da isn't happy, he doesn't like the fact that you are going to a school he hasn't heard of, and that you have hidden… abilities which he doesn't, I don't for that matter, understand. It's going to be tough Brad, I'm not making any secret of it. He isn't going to be quite the same to you for a while probably, but he'll come round. He's a good man Brad, don't ever forget that. I love him and I always will and I know he will come round because he loves you and he always will! Just know it isn't going to be easy for a while, that's the risk your going to take by going with this. I want to make all this clear to you before you make a final decision to go. So, what about it? Are you going through with it?"

Brad thought for a moment, he was sorry about his fathers take on this but his mother was right, his Da would come round in the end.

"I'm going Mam, I'm going." Brad stated this with an air of finality, and it was like a light had been switched on and he was happy, and relieved. It was like living a fairytale one wonderful fairytale. This seemed to have effected his mother too, because she smiled through her tear stained face and said with far more energy then before, as if reassured by her own speech to her son.

"Come on! The owl will be her tomorrow, let's see a smile! I'm making waffles, I'll have them ready when your sister get's home from the movies. We can tell her all about it then. Brad smiled, it was one of his mothers many, wonderful abnormalities that she loved to have waffles for a mid afternoon snack. Without thinking, acting almost on impulse he moved forwards and hugged her, feeling the warmth that one always feels when embraced by a loving mother. They stood like that for a while, the odd tear trickling down her face and falling onto Brad's head.


	4. Chapter 4: Diagon Alley

Here is Chapter 4! Sorry it took so long to update! It's a bit of a hefty chapter ;)

Chapter 4: Diagon Alley

It was the 15th of August and Bradley waited in breathless anticipation, from the moment he woke up. He knew, he KNEW that a person from Hogwarts school would be coming, yet there was still a nagging doubt. One couldn't help wandering, in such circumstances, whether it was all just a dream. Yet there was the letter he kept next to his bed, and the proof that his mother still believed it all.

He sat on his bed in breathless anticipation, staring up at the large posters of Gareth Bale, and Irish captain Robbie Keane. "Brad! Brad! Come he's here!" He grabbed his wallet and ran down the staircase.

With his mother in the lounge stood a tall gangly man, young, with red hair and freckles. When Brad reached the bottom of the stairs the red-haired man looked up and stuck out a hand, a friendly smile cracking his freckled face. "Hey there! You must be Brad, great to meet you! I'm Hugo, my job's to show new muggle-born's round Diagon Alley… you're my first one" he added with a wink.

"Good to meet you, umm… Mr. Hugo."

"Haha!" Hugo barked with obvious mirth, "Never thought I would be called Mr. Hugo… that's great that is. Right shall we go? Mrs. Murphy you'll be coming along won't you?"

"Yes, yes I'll be accompanying you and Brad."

"Great, now where's your fire place?"

"Fire place? Well there's a fire place in mine and Cliff's room, but why?"

"Floo powder of course… ahh wait, you don't know what floo powder is do ya? I forgot… well, floo powder is a wizarding way of travelling, there is a powder which is mass produced which you throw into a fire, step into the fire and state the place you want to travel too and you will come out in the fire place at your destination."

"Okay… so do you have some of this powder?"

"Of course! Every wizard travels with a bag of flu powder. Especially me because of my job…" and with a smirk he pulled out a small, leather pouch which was sagging with white powder.

"Right then, let's head up to your room Mrs. Murphy."

"Ummm… okay then, follow me." With that she turned around and walked up the stairs followed by Brad and Hugo.

They entered the room with a stylish fireplace, obviously just for show.

"That's a small fireplace… so you're going to have to crawl in." Hugo said looking slightly confused at the impractical size of the fireplace. "Okay… but there isn't any fire, and if there was wouldn't we get burnt?" Mrs. Murphy raised the question,

"Oh, no problem on either count!" Hugo replied robustly removing the same kind of stick that Poppers Poppington had used (Brad had figured out by now that this, was called a wand) he pointed it at the fire place and muttered 'incendio" under his breath, an orange flame leaped up in the fireplace. "Also, to answer your second query, all you will feel is a gentle, warm sensation then you must CLEARLY say "Diagon Alley" and you will come out in the official Diagon Alley fire place. We'll go one at a time, Brad, how about you first? Here's a pinch of powder now throw it in, crawl after it and say what I told you and you'll be fine, trust me! I've done it loads of times."

"Err, ookkaayy" Brad said uncertainly, "How long will it take?"

"Oh, only about 10 seconds I would imagine, it depends how crowded the floo network is." Brad wasn't even going to bother asking what the "floo network" was, he was too confused already. "Right, off you go!" He said enthusiastically.

Brad moved forward slightly unsteadily, then with an unsure movement he threw the powder into the fire, he started slightly as the flame turned an emerald green then crawled with a sudden confidence he certainly didn't feel into the fire place. He stopped for a moment, it was true all he felt was a sensation like that of a warm wind blowing upwards then he said in as clear a voice as he could muster "Diagon Alley!"

A tightening sensation took hold of him, everything went dark and he started to spin faster and faster he caught glimpses of fireplaces as he passed, and then suddenly it all stopped and he found himself standing in a large fireplace looking out on the most unbelievable scene he had ever laid his eyes on.

He couldn't take it in all at once his eyes darted one way then another. He was looking out on a long cobbled streets lined on either side with shops of a most unusual nature. The first shop sign he saw said "Magical Menagerie" then "General Quidditch Supplies: For all your Quidditch needs" and "Flourish and Blotts book store" that was as far as he got when he was tapped on the shoulder, with a start he looked behind him and saw his mother and Hugo standing in the fireplace. "Well? What are you just standing there for? Let's go!" Hugo hurried them out of the fireplace, it was the most breath taking place that Brad had ever been, he stood for a minute on the cobbled pavement, he was finally filled with a sense of finality and belief. Now he knew it was all true, this couldn't be fake.

"Right look at your letter and tell me what's first on your supplies list?"

"It says to get three sets of plain black work robes. Where do we get those?"

"Ahhh you'd have to go to Madame Malkins the 2nd's shop for those!"

"The second?" Mrs. Murphy inquired,

"Yeah, her mother died about 10 years ago, she took over the shop she inherited the knack for robe sizes I'll tell you, there's no place better then her shop."

"Right, but one question… how much will all this cost, in pounds that is, not in wizarding money?"

"Ahhh, of course you don't have wizarding money yet do ya? Well then we'll have to go to Gringotts first, the wizarding bank, safest place in the world to keep stuff that you don't want other people getting at, only had stuff stolen once, and that was Harry Potter who did that, we all know he was special don't we?!"

"Well we don't really know who he is, but anyway let's get to that later. Shall we go to Gringotts now?" She said hurriedly as she saw him take a big breath obviously ready to launch into a detailed description of this famous Harry Potter, whoever he was. "Right, yeah, umm follow me then." They followed him down the street until they stopped in front of what was undoubtedly the grandest building on the street, tall and imposing it's greek styled architecture suggested old age, and the massive golden letters over the entrance proclaimed the famous title of the old bank. They walked up the long flight of stairs through the security at the door where they were prodded with long golden rods, which Hugo informed them were called "Proberty Probes" used to uncover spells of concealment. Brad gave a start when he saw the guards standing by the door, they were small and had grey leathery skin, long pointed noses, and thin spindly hands. "Wha-What are those, Mr. Weasley?" He inquired timidly, "Those? Oh, those are Goblins, they guard the gold in the Gringotts vaults, they also run the whole bank, they are the finest bankers in the world."

"Okay, but were do we go to change money?" Brad's mother was starting to sound a little overwhelmed, which was something because it took a lot to overwhelm her.

"Just over there, at the desk that says _Exchange _above it."

"Right, let's go then shall we?" With that she led the way over to the desk, behind it sat two goblins, both were crouched over piles of paperwork, muttering to themselves as their quills moved like lightning across the pages.

"Hello and what may I do for you?" The Goblin closest to them rattled off, barely lifting his head from the columns, and figures he was studying.

"The Mrs. here wants to change some muggle money Gorag."

"Oh, it's you Hugo, yes she can change with me, how much do you want?" Gorag's head came up from the page as he said this. Brad stopped listening to the conversation and started to look around the massive room they were in was different to anything he had ever seen, hundreds of desks, all alike to the one they stood at, were placed strategically around the room. All of them with small goblins sitting, bent-headed working hard at whatever their separate tasks were, at the other side of the large room stood large double doors. These did not reflect the shining glory of the rest of the building, they were dark and foreboding, goblins stood at either side of the entrance, armed with proberty probes.

"Alright, thank you, come on Brad let's go! It appears that we have allot to do before getting home this evening!" His mothers voice called him back from his observations and he turned to follow her and Hugo out the door. "Right, we'll go to Madame Malkin's first then shall we?"

"Whatever you say, Hugo."

"Brilliant, then follow me!" They followed him up the alley, and stopped outside a large shop, emblazoned with the words "Madame Malkin's the 2nd's robe shop". They entered a dark musty room, filled with materials of every shape, size, and colour.

"Hello there, may I help you?" They were addressed by a harassed looking young woman, her dark hair was up in a tight bun, and her tall figure was stooped by the weight of the materials she carried.

"Ahhh, Madam Malkins, I've brought this boy to get his Hogwarts robes!" Hugo said genially, and then he added in an undertone "muggle born you see."

"Yes, thank-you Hugo I gathered that. Now, what size are you," she asked, turning on Brad. "Err, I don't know ma'am sorry" he said as he looked pleadingly at his mother, "Probably best you measured him" his mother said, "in-case we use different measuring methods to your kind."

"Very well then, come over here dear." Madam Malkins said kindly gesturing to a wooden block on the floor, "Now just hold still for a minute while I measure your height and width." She started running her wand up, down and across Brad's body. "Aha! I have just the set of robes for your size, I have started doing packages you see, I get the types of robes Hogwarts students will require before each year, and I have started making up packages, it's far less trouble to just pick up a package you know!" With that she lifted her wand and said clearly "Accio robes" there was a whooshing sound and a package wrapped in brown paper flew out of a back room and hovered in-front of her. "Perfect, that will be 18 Galleons for the lot! I'm having a 10% off sale for first years only this week, so you certainly chose the right time to come!"

"Thank you Mrs. Malkins, very much obliged!"

"No problem, enjoy the rest of your time in Diagon Alley!" She called after them as they left the shop.

"Right, what's next on your list Brad?" Hugo asked enthusiastically, Brad consulted the list "It has a list of books next"

"We can go to Flourish & Blotts for those, they also do packages with all the books for each year. Tell you what, we're right next to Olivander's wand shop now, why don't you go in there and get your wand, and I'll go get your books? That way we'll get it done quicker!"

"Alright, that sounds fine to me." Said Mrs. Murphy with a little more energy then she had felt earlier, the whole atmosphere was starting to course through her, and she was starting to feel energised and revived by the jostling crowds of chattering people, all in strange robes and pointy hats, for some reason she couldn't understand it just made her feel happy.

Hugo left them with a warning to wait for him before they go anywhere else. Brad and his mother turned and entered Olivanders wand shop, there was a short, stocky, bald headed man sitting behind the desk his head buried in a book. He looked up as they came in, "Good day! Good day, what may I do for you?"

"Are you Mr. Olivander? I need to get a wand you see, and I don't really know how that works because I'm muggled or whatever it's called." Brad said in one breath, he didn't know why but this place made him nervous. "Muggle? Ahh but of course, I must apologize, you find me most exhausted today. I remember now, I was told that a muggle-born boy would be coming, and to answer your other question, no, I am not Mr. Olivander, Mr. Olivander died 4 years ago, I am his former apprentice the shop's name was not changed in honour of him. But anyway enough of that, you are here for a wand, so let me help you… one of the things that has always been clear to wand makers is that the wand chooses the wizard, in other words you've got to try out many different types of wands before you find the right one. Now there are stacks of wands in the back room, but I think we will start with this shelf here" and he indicated a low shelf lined with boxes, each one had a label with a different description on it. He reached down took a box from the top shelf, opened it, and handed it to Brad. "Here give that wand swing and let's see." Brad did as commanded swinging his arm in an arc, but nothing happened. "Hmm, we will have to try a few more then…" after five more attempts Brad swung his arm once more, and a shower of sparks came out of the end of the wand, giving him a strange powerful feeling. "There we go! That's it, very interesting, elder wood, 11 ½ inches, hippogriff feather core. The only one of it's kind, I made it as a bit of an experiment. Anyway, that will cost 40 Galleons, I never thought that particular wand would actually choose someone, it is extremely powerful… use it well!" With these parting words he accepted the coins from Brad's mother and stuck his head once again into the book lying open on the desk.

Once they were out in the street they stopped, and Brad consulted his list again.

"It says I need:

_1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)__  
__1 set glass or crystal phials__  
__1 telescope__  
__1 set brass scales_

_1 Sneak-o-scope_

Where do I get all this stuff?"

"Just wait, I'm sure Hugo will be able to help with that, and here he comes!" she gestured to where Brad could see a now familiar shock of read hair bobbing towards them through the crowd.

"Right you got your wand? Here are your books," Hugo handed them a brown package heavy with books.

"Thank you Hugo, we have a few things left to get but I'm afraid I really don't understand what most of these things are, where do we get them?"

"You can get that stuff at Potage's Cauldron shop, Slug & Jiggers Apothecary, Scribbulus Writing shop, and Wiseacres Wizarding Equipment. Hey Brad, how about I go and get those things with your mother, and you go and browse the other shops, you'll find some great things at 'Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes' and at 'Sugarplums Sweet Shop' Oh! But don't go down Knockturn Alley, nasty place that is!."

"Ummm, yeah that would be fun, mam?" He inquired looking up at her,

"I think that would be fine, just take some money with you… Hugo how much would be reasonable, you know I'm not very good with wizard money?"

"I'd say about 10 galleons would be enough"

"Okay, here Brad, meet us back here in an hour… be careful, okay?"

"Sure mam, thanks!"

"Your welcome." With that Brad headed off, peering into the shop windows at the many strange sights that met his eyes. Soon he saw the un-missable building of "Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes" he walked up to the door and entered, it was like entering another world joke items of every shape and size whizzed around the room. The shelves were stacked with boxes of merchandise with labels that read things like "Skiving Snackboxes: NEW EDITION, with the all new Jelly-Head Jellybabies! Get out of class easily just pop one of these and your head will start wobbling around the place like a big jelly!" and "Dunghead Dungbombs! The tried and tested Weasley dungbomb recipe, it'll take a month to get this smell out!" Brad wandered around in raptures, it was unlike anything he had ever seen. It was crowded as well, chattering people mostly between his own age and about seventeen filled the shop all exclaiming over products and teasing each other. It took Brad, half an hour to decide what he wanted to purchase, he eventually decided on the highly amusing decomposing-diaries, "Give it to your mate, watch his surprise as he wakes up the next morning and all that's left is a pile of dust!" It cost 7 Galleons, leaving him with 3 which he decided to save for the sweet shop.

Out in the alley he could hardly believe how much time had passed as he looked up at the large clock on the entrance to Gringotts. He only had fifteen minutes left, he looked from side to side and saw the large lollipop-sign of "Sugarplum's Sweet Shop".

He entered the store and was taken aback by the sweet smell that struck him as he walked in. It wasn't that sticky sweet smell you usually smell in a sweet shop back home, but a wholesome, fruity kind of smell. Shelves upon shelves of sweets he could never have imagined met his eyes, there were no Mars Bars, or snickers here they were all unique and, to Brad, completely unheard of. Titles such as "Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans" "Cauldron Cakes" and "Chocolate Frogs" jumped out at him, once again that overwhelming feeling that he felt in "Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes". His eventual choice was two boxes of chocolate frogs, and one bag of cauldron cakes. He was dissuaded from the "Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans" when he was warned that they were indeed "every flavour", and the shop keeper could have sworn he got a tree bark flavoured one once.

He left the shop with his purchases held firmly in his grip, and headed back towards were his mother stood waiting with Hugo and armfuls of packages some of which she handed to Brad when he joined up with them.

"Right, that's all you got to get then?" Hugo inquired, Brad checked his list

"Yeah that's all."

"Great now if you want to go back to the fireplace you can head home via floo powder again. Sorry I got to do one more person today, you were the morning ones ya see?"

"Right, that's fine by us… thank you Hugo for everything."

"Your welcome, ahh here we are" he broke off as they reached the giant fireplace, "O yeah one more thing, on the 1st of September, go to King's Cross Station and go to the barrier in-between platforms 9 and 10 you just walk straight at the barrier, make sure no-one sees you, and you will walk straight through it onto platform 9 ¾!"

"Through the barrier? Right that shouldn't be a problem, thank you again Hugo." With that she threw a handful of powder into the fireplace stepped in saying in a loud, clear voice "11 Puddlesmere drive, Limerick" in a woosh of green flame she disappeared, then Brad stepped forward and threw his portion in, stepping backwards into the fire to avoid getting smoke in his eyes again he spoke "11 Puddlesmere drive, Limmerick" the last thing he saw was Hugo's smiling face spinning before his eyes.


	5. Chapter 5: The Hogwarts Express

Chapter 5: The Hogwarts Express

Doreen Murphy rushed her son along the crowded platforms at King's Cross station. They had come from the "Leaky Cauldron Inn" were they stayed the night after arriving there by floo powder the day before.

Brad pushed his trolley piled high with the trunk he had been provided by Hogwarts. On top of it was the little kitten his mother had bought him the day before in the 'Magical Menagerie' in Diagon Alley. It was a beautiful little grey kitten, Brad who had never liked cat's much had strangely fallen in love with this one something about its mismatched eyes, and soft grey fur caught his eye, and his heart had been set on the kitten from the moment he first saw it. Now they moved along platforms 6,7,8 then 9, they looked at the barrier in between nine and ten, and then looked at each other.

Doreen gave her son a nod of reassurance then together the lent, trolley and all, against the platform. They fell through the barrier as if it wasn't even there, Brad looked around him at the crowded old-fashioned platform. Sitting on the tracks was a magnificent, scarlet steam engine with a golden plaque on the front stating that it was indeed the "Hogwarts Express". Brad's eyes lit up as he saw hundreds of other students crowding the platform.

"Mam! There's loads of them, look!"

"Yes, I can see, Brad it is 10:55 you had better get on the train now look at me." She took his face in her hands and said "You are going into a completely new environment, practically a new world. I just want you to remember, whatever happens there. I love you with all my heart, and so does Da it's just taking him a bit longer to come round to the new idea okay?" Her voice caught slightly as she said these last words and tears came to her eyes.

"Yeah mam, I get it… I love you too, loads. I hope Da comes round, cause I miss him, tell him that for me won't you mam?" For the first time Brad felt something choke him, he was coming to the realisation that it was a year until he would see his mother, Sarah, or his father again not to mention the twins.

"I will, now go on or you'll miss the train, I love you."

"I love you to mam… bye" with that he handed his trunk to a conductor who lifted it onto the train for him, he looked around, waved once more to his mother and climbed onto the train.

He entered the train and saw that it was comprised of lots of compartments down each side of the central passageway. He walked forward looking from side to side, through the little windows on each door, searching for a free compartment. Eventually he saw one with only one person sitting inside; he entered to see a small framed boy with black hair and freckles. He had a slightly vacant look and didn't notice that Brad had entered straight away.

"Hey, is it okay if I sit here with you?"

"Huh? O yeah, go ahead."

"So… your first year?" Brad asked eagerly.

"Yep, but I have three older siblings who are all in Hogwarts already."

"Really?" Brad asked as he sat down "That's amazing, do they like it? What's it like? I didn't know I could use magic until about 2 months ago! I couldn't believe it when I found out!"

"Ahh, you're a muggle born? My siblings love it, they're all in Slytherin, I hope I'm not though, I don't like Slytherin."

"What's that? Slytherin I mean?"

"You don't know yet? Slytherin is one of the houses at Hogwarts, there's they are

renowned for being sly and cunning, then there's Hufflepuff, who are known for their loyalty, then there's Ravenclaw who are known for their clever minds, then there is Gryffindor who are known for being noble and brave!"

"So you don't want to be in Slytherin.. were do you want to be?"

"I want to be in Gryffindor! It's the best house, though all my siblings hate it, they say Slytherin is the best and Gryffindor is terrible… when I said I wanted to be in Gryffindor, my older sister Elana turned my chair I was sitting on into a gigantic snake which chased me round our house and garden!"

"Wow, so they REALLY don't like Gryffindor then? O yeah, I forgot I'm Brad, Brad Murphy who are you?"

"I'm James, my family name is Silver, yeah they really don't like Gryffindor."

"Well, I don't know where I'll be then… how do they decide? Is it just like normal schools?"

"Normal schools? Oh, you mean muggle schools! No I don't think so, I don't know how they do it here, but my older siblings tell me it's horribly painful… I think they are teasing though! They do that allot with me…" his voice trailed away as he looked out of the window at the sprinkling of rain that was starting to splatter on it's surface. For the first time Brad felt a tightening in his stomach, his mind started running through the things that they might do to choose houses, would they make them run rigorous tests? Test their magical ability? But he was just a first year, he was muggle-born at that, he didn't even know how to use magic yet! The note with his books had warned that there was extremely harsh punishment for using magic outside of school before you turned seventeen. His worry must have showed on his face for James said "You look sick, are you okay?"

"Yah, just nervous I guess."

"Ah, don't worry about it, I'm sure my siblings were just teasing me."

"But what if I get there and I can't do magic? What if they are angry with me for coming at all!"

"You got a Hogwarts letter which means they want you! Don't worry about not being able to use magic, I can't control magic yet either, and I'm pureblood!"

"Pureblood?" For some reason the word sent a shiver down Brad's spine.

"Yep, my parent's are wizard, and witch as are my grandparents and their parents, and their parents as far back as we can tell. That's what pureblood means pure magical blood. The rest of my family seem to think it's important, I don't though, I don't see how our bloodline has anything to do with how good we are! I guess I'm just weird that way… my mother was so upset when I said that once, she shut me in the closet for two days with nothing but water!"

"Your family don't seem very nice… mine are, though my Da still hasn't come round to the fact that I can do magic, he wasn't too happy about it."

"Yeah, my older brother, Rufeus, is okay… in comparison with the others that is. At least he doesn't tease me, he just ignores me altogether. He is in his last year at Hogwarts, and my sisters are twins Elena and Jocelyn, even I get them mistaken sometimes they are both fifteen, and I'm eleven."

"Yeah me too, that's funny, my older brothers are twins as well, also identical, my sister is just annoying really, she's thirteen."

"Something of the trolley?" Brad started as a short, plump young witch stuck her head in at the door of the compartment and gave them a wink. "15% off for first years."

"No thanks, I have some lunch already." Brad held up a neatly packed box with bacon sandwiches his mother had made him.

"I'll take some chocolate frogs, and some acid pops. Thank you!"

"Your welcome dear, here you go, that'll be four sickles and a knut." James paid up and stuffed the sweets into his bag.

"So, which Quidditch team do you support?" James asked enthusiastically

"Quidditch? What's Quidditch?"

"Oh, of course I keep forgetting, your muggle born so you don't know about Quidditch, it's far more exciting then that football thing you muggles watch. It's played on broomsticks, with 7 players per side there are 2 beaters who protect the seeker, and chasers from the bludgers and 3 chasers who score goals with the quaffle, and a chaser who catches the snitch, and also a keeper who protects the goals." Brad looked twice as confused as before

"I'm afraid I still don't quite understand."

James spent the next two hours explaining the finer points of Quidditch and informing Brad that he simply HAD to support Puddlemere United because they were just the best, and oldest Quidditch team in Britain.

Brad heard a soft mewing above his head and remembered the small grey kitten which he had brought along. He stood up on the seat and pulled the basket down from the overhead storage. He opened the lid to let the scared looking little kitten out of the basket, it stepped out onto his lap mismatched eyes darted around the room taking in it's surroundings. The little kitten's grey fur was slowly settling back into the sleek grey coat it usually had. "I don't know what to call her yet… she is so beautiful"

"Haha, I like her, her eyes are like yours! They are weird, and cool."

"Thanks… what do you think I should call her?"

"I dunno… you should name her, she's your cat!" Brad stared out the window, his mind was going over all they had discussed when suddenly he burst out

"Seeker!"

"What?"

"Seeker, I'll call her Seeker! Like in Quidditch!"

"I like it… Seeker, I think it suits her."

"Yeah, me too… How long is this trip?"

"Oh, we should be there soon, we should get changed into our robes."

"Right, those dress things, it'll be hard to get used to for me."

"Haha, yes you muggle borns aren't used to robes are you."

"Nope."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Sorting Hat

The train pulled into a dark station lit with old-fashioned lamps, a magically-enhanced voice travelled through the train informing them all that their trunks, and other personal gear would be transferred to their dorms at Hogwarts while they were at the opening night's feast. Brad turned to James, "Do we leave the train now?"

"I guess so, c'mon lets just follow the others out."

"Right." They walked out into the corridor and joined in the throng of students in the corridor, they followed a tall blonde boy out a side door and onto the platform. It was dark, lit only by lanterns, but teeming with students of all ages and sizes. A loud voice boomed out across the platform: "First years follow me! Follow me first years, an' don't get lost on the way!" Brad and James turned to look at the source of the voice and saw a gigantic man with a great bushy greying beard, and long hair of the same style.

Soon a group of kids, all about their size had gathered around the huge man, and he spoke to them. "Now, I am going to take all of yer' across the lake to the castle in boats. This is the traditional way fer first years. My name is Hagrid, yer'll have to excuse me, I'm getting' a li'll bit old these days, I may be a bi' harder of hearing so yer'll have to shout." Brad decided he liked Hagrid right from the start, there was something gloriously honest in that broad grinning face of his and the massive greyish beard.

They followed Hagrid as he walked across to where there was a dock at the edge of a vast lake, all the first year students climbed into the boats as Hagrid instructed. Of their own accord the boats started moving out across the still mirror-like surface of the dark lake. Brad looked up and saw in the distance a darker shadow against the night, he saw turrets and walls with light shining from little windows. "Wow, is that the school?" Brad asked James incredulously.

"Looks like all the pictures, so it must be! Wow, it's amazing."

"I'll say! I didn't realise it was a castle… wicked!"

"Right we'll be arriving at the bank in just a few minutes, I will escort you up to the entrance of the main hall were you will wait for Professor Weasley who'll be takin' all of you lot into the hall for the sortin'."

They barely felt a vibration as the boats hit the far dock, they climbed out of their boats and headed after Hagrid up a steep slope, through a gate, up a flight of stairs and into a huge room. The room was lit by large lanterns, and large portraits, and tapestries hung on all the walls (Brad gave a start when a portrait of a young witch with spectacles waved at him). Hagrid held up his hand for them to stop outside massive double doors, he then entered and left them standing alone. "So we have to go through the sorting on the first night? I am nervous about it!"

"Don't worry, I'm sure my sibling were lying."

"Yeah, of course…" but Brad didn't feel half as convinced as he sounded.

They were interrupted by the entry of a middle height, brown haired witch of about 45 years, stood in front of them and smiled. "Hello, I'm Professor Hermione Weasley, please follow me into the hall."

With that she turned around and flung open the massive doors. Brad gasped, It was unlike anything he had ever seen, the room was so high he couldn't make out the ceiling, all he could see was what looked like a starry sky. "It's enchanted to look like the sky outside, my sisters told me." James whispered in his ear. Large portraits hung along the walls, and four long tables packed with students filled the floor-space in the hall. They moved forward all of them walking slowly and admiring their surroundings. Eventually, they reached the end of the tables and stopped, in front of them was a slightly raised stone platform on which sat a long table packed with people Brad guessed to be teachers, he saw Hagrid in a seat at the end. Professor Weasley stood up and motioned for silence, she turned round and addressed the first years:

"When I call your name, you will move forward and sit on this stool" She gestured to a three legged stool which held a tattered looking old wizard's hat "You will place the hat on your head, and it will sort you into your house. But first the hat must open the sorting, and with that she stopped talking and looked expectantly at the hat. For a second there was silence and then a loud voice erupted from a rip in the side of the hat:

_Welcome Hogwarts students, and youngest of the lot,_

_Yours is the finest destiny, for few can truly say,_

_That they have been to Hogwarts, the greatest school of all._

_I'll tell you where you need to go, for I can read your thoughts,_

_You may laugh and snigger, but I will stop your laughter._

_I know where you ought to be, so shut your mouths and listen. _

_Whether you belong to Gryffindor who loves the brave and noble._

_Or to Ravenclaw who values quick-wit, and learning._

_You may be a true Hufflepuff who houses those of loyal heart._

_Or are you a Slytherin, the most cunning of the lot?_

_You do not know the answer, that's why you come to me,_

_So hurry up, don't be shy,_

_The sorting hat will show you, were you ought to be!_

The entire hall burst into applause as the hat finished it's song, and Professor Weasley unrolled a scroll and read the first name. "Amari, Jane." The little girl with dark skin headed up the small flight of stairs and onto the stool, the Professor placed the hat on her head and there was silence. It took about ten seconds of everyone holding their breathe before the hat screamed out "RAVENCLAW!"

Following Jane Amari's sorting into Ravenclaw Jack Smith was sorted into Hufflepuff, Jason Gould into Slytherin, Anna Thompson into Gryffindor and a pair of twins Emma and Amy were sorted into Hufflepuff. "Murphy, Brad!" Brad started as he heard his name, looked around, got an encouraging nod from James as he walked up the stairs towards the chair. He sat down and the hat was placed on his head, it fell down over his eyes and he waited holding his breath and frightened.

"Hmmm, you're a tough one, yes, very tough" a deep, musing voice seemed to come from inside his own head "Your brave, and mischievous, you've also got a fine mind. I could put you in Hufflepuff but I believe your talents would be wasted there. No definitely not Hufflepuff what about Ravenclaw? No you are clever, but your mischievous side would definitely not prosper there, not Slytherin your clever, not cunning, so it had better be GRYFFINDOR!" One of the tables in the hall erupted with cheers brad sighed with relief, and headed down the steps to take a seat at the long table. He waited with baited breath as two more boys were sorted into Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, then it was James's turn. Brad crossed his fingers under the table as James put the hat on his head, it was nearly a full minute before it shouted out "GRYFFINDOR!" Brad screamed and shouted with the rest of them as James, grinning ear-to-ear trotted over to the Gryffindor table.

"Brilliant, we were both selected for Gryffindor, that's great!"

"Yeah, my siblings don't look to happy though see." He pointed to three students at a far table, two of them were identical girls, and one was a boy they were all glaring at James as he waved across to them, sniggering.

"Probably can't bear the shame, their younger brother in Gryffindor, HA! That'll teach them." Brad's attempt at a reply was cut off by Professor Weasley calling for silence.

He looked across and saw the lady who was sitting in the larges chair of all in the middle of the staff table stand up. She was small, with grey hair and piercing green eyes, she smiled gracefully at the children then started to speak:

"Welcome back! The summer has been far too long, and I have missed you all, though I daresay most of you probably can't say the same about me! Welcome to all the first years, it's brilliant to have you here! I have a few new teaching posts to announce, we have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, retired chief Auror Harry Potter!" The room erupted into cheers, the loudest they had heard yet.

"He's really famous, he killed the most dangerous dark lord in history" James managed to whisper into his ear before the head mistress began talking again.

"Also the Potions position has been taken by Professor Gary Stains!" More cheering, though less enthusiastic then before, "Also a note to all first years the dark forest is out of bounds to all students! Now that's enough talking lets eat!" At this food appeared seemingly out of nowhere to fill the tables, food of all types, so many good things in the same place, Brad sighed, said "I love magic!" and tucked in.


	7. Chapter 7: Scorpius

Chapter 7: Scorpius

Brad awoke and took in his surroundings, confused. He was lying in a four poster bed with curtains; there were several other beds identical to his set up around a circular shaped room, next to the bed was a chair with black robes, a scarlet and yellow scarf, and a black pointed hat. Then it all came flooding back to him, the train ride, the sorting, and the feast. He sat up and glanced at the bed closest to his, in it lay James, still sleeping. He glanced at his watch and saw that the time read 06:30, they only had to be up at 07:00, he lay back and ran over it all in his mind. It was crazy, all these weeks and he was finally here, at Hogwarts, his first class, charms, was at 08:30 according to his timetable.

He decided he wasn't going to sleep anymore and got up, he opened his trunk and drew out the pile of books packed right at the top, reviewing his timetable for that day he separated the books he was going to need for the day from the rest of the pile. It was at this point that James woke, he glanced around and grinned at Brad. "First day! You excited? I can't wait to see my sibs at breakfast, the look on their faces!" James was grinning widely as he nattered away, clearly extremely happy about being sorted into Gryffindor. "Yeah, hey you know that Harry Potter guy from last night?"

"Yeah, what about him?"

"We have him today, second period after charms."

"Brilliant! He's so famous, did you know he was in Gryffindor too, he played seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and he was really good. Some people say he could have played for England if he had wanted too. His wife played for a club called the Holyhead Harpies for a while, she was amazing as well, she was a chaser."

"Cool, when are the house matches? I can't wait to watch some Quidditch. Which is the best house team… do you know?"

"Well my siblings tell me that it is between Slytherin and Gryffindor most years but occasionally Hufflepuff win it."

"Hufflepuff? The way everybody talked last night I figured they weren't good at anything really."

"Except Quidditch, for some reason."

"Oh it's 07:00… should we go down to get breakfast?"

"Sure."

"Wait… which book do we need for herbology?"

"Duh, the one called something like _One thousand and one magical herbs _or something like that."

"Oh right, yeah here it is _One Thousand and One Magical Herbs and Fungi"_

"Who cares, I hear herbology is a bore anyways!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, my siblings think it is a waste of time, not that I like to agree with my siblings but just open that book! It put me to sleep right away!"

"Haha, well anything magical is cool to me ;)!"

"Whatever, let's go." The walked out of the room and down the stairs into the cosy common room. There was a fire spitting and crackling in the hearth, and the entire place looked cheerful. Brad glanced around looking for the exit, he located it at the far side of the room.

The great hall was already bustling with students when Brad and James walked in, they found seats without too much trouble however, and sat down. Brad couldn't believe the amount of food there was, of all types. There were cornflakes and other cereals, but also bacon and eggs, pancakes, waffles, and lots of syrup. It was like being in one of those dreams from which you never want to wake up. "Your eyes are going to burst out of their sockets if you stare at that food much longer Mr. Murphy." A wispy voice broke through Brad's reverie, he looked up, and nearly fell off his chair with fright. There in front of him was the translucent figure of a medieval wizard. Brad stared at him, mouth open for a moment and then remembered his manners, "Sorry, umm… how do you do sir?" He asked as he stuck out his hand in greeting, "Ohh, hahaha, I can't shake hands my dear boy, I'm afraid I'm not quite solid enough for that."

"Right sorry."

"No need, no need, Sir Nicholas Mimsy-Porpington is at your service."

"With that he swept a feathered hat off his head, bowed low then, to brad's astonishment, he sunk right through the table and out of sight.

"What, who was that?!" Brad asked incredulously.

"Oh him, he told you his name, we just call him Nearly-Headless Nick, he's the house ghost." Brad looked around for the person who had spoken a tall languid looking boy with shockingly red hair winked at him.

"Uh, right, did you say 'Ghost'? I never knew they existed."

"Muggle born, eh?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Muggles have spent many years trying to explain away perfectly normal house, and graveyard hauntings. It's quite amusing really."

"I did see one then…"

"What was that?"

"I did see a ghost, when I was little I told my mother I had definitely seen a ghost, but she just laughed, stroked my head and gave me a piece of cake."

"Pretty typical reaction actually, though rumour has it some muggles have actually been put in mental hospitals for rattling on and saying they saw ghosts."

"Yeah, they aren't just rumours."

"That's really funny, kind of sucks for the muggle in hospital I suppose."

"Yeah, it probably does."

"Hey Brad, we got 10 minutes to get to charms!" James elbowed brought him back into reality with a sharp elbow jab.

"Oh, right. Yeah, let's go." He said, and with a last gulp of pumpkin juice he ran out the room after James.

They walked along the corridors, following in the general direction of the other first years. Five minutes later they ended up in front of an ordinary looking wooden door that had "Class room 83" in large gold letters on the doorframe.

The door opened and immediately the group of first years fell silent. In the doorway stood a young-ish looking man with blonde hair down to his shoulders. "Inside now, your lesson starts in 3 minutes." His voice was low and sneering, his grey eyes were piercing and he looked almost scornful as the students trooped past him to take their seats inside. He walked up to his desk at the front and turned to face the class.

"This is your first class, I expect you to show respect to me as your teacher, trust me your transgressions will not go un-noticed, if you disrespect me or your class mates I will not hesitate to dock points from your house. My name is _Professor_ Scorpius Malfoy." He finished of his statement by staring at them intensely, then quietly he said "Open your books to page 1, read the first chapter and alert me by raising your hand when you are finished, there will be NO talking without raising your hand in my classroom, you may begin."

Brad opened his charms book and started to read, it was amazing, just seeing all the things one could do with magic. It took about 20 minutes before all their hands were in the air. "Alright, now you have read your first chapter you should, if you read attentively enough, know the basics of charming a feather to levitate from it's starting position. You will now take your wands out and practice with the feather on your desk, that is those of you who do not have it stuck in their hair Miss Longe." Brad turned around to see a young Ravenclaw girl a few rows back from him looking embarrassed and taking a large white feather out of her hair.

Brad nudged James who was daydreaming already, and motioned to the feather. "We've got to make it fly basically, why does he use words like levitate?"

"Wants to sound impressive I 'spect." Said James almost sleepily,

"Well, let's try. The book says you have to swish and flick your wand using the incantation _Wingardium Leviosa_._"_ Brad tried it swishing and flicking his wand and uttering the spell in the book, his feather flew forward and hit Professor Malfoy on the back of the head, he turned around quickly and immediately pinpointed the Brad.

"Do you find it amusing?!" He blustered "Sending objects whizzing at the back of my head? You are meant to be levitating your feather Mr. Murphy not making it fly at your teacher."

"I'm sorry sir, it was a mistake, really! I tried the spell but it didn't really work."

"A mistake? I was ONLY going to dock 5 points Mr. Murphy but now you tell me that it was a mistake on top of that? That will be 10 points from Gryffindor, for deliberately assaulting a teacher, and lying blatantly."

"But…"

"NO BUT'S MURPHY!" Scorpius all but yelled. "Now try again, and this time don't send it at me!"

"Right of course sir." Brad picked up the spare feather that lay on his desk and looked over at James in shock; he was looking completely puzzled, as was the rest of the class. "Was it really that bad?" He asked in a whisper.

"No mate, trust me that was good for a first attempt, my mother made me try at home, and I couldn't get it to twitch in about 40 tries, in fact that was spectacular."

"Why is he so angry at me then?"

"I have no idea mate, look around you they can't even get it to move." It was true, Brad scanned the room and saw that very few people were having success, and those that were managing to move it were only barely levitating it. He tried again "Wingardium Leviosa!" With a swish, and a flick the feather shot of again, this time to the side though, it hit James full in the face. Brad covered his mouth with his hand to stifle the giggles, as James fell of his chair in shock. "What is all the commotion about?" Brad turned to see the angry countenance of Scorpius Malfoy very close to his own face. "Sir, James, he fell off his chair." Malfoy moved his face so close Brad could feel his warm breath, "and why? May I ask did Mr Silver fall off his chair?"

"You'll have to ask him that sir." Brad replied coolly, his reply served only to further aggravate Malfoy who turned his head slightly to look James in the eye, "Mr Silver, pray tell why did you fall off your chair?"

"I stood up to pick my feather off of the floor sir, and when I sat down I hit the edge of my chair and fell off."

"Well…" Malfoy still looked sceptical "Another 5 points from Gryffindor for disrupting the class, carry on!" James winked at Brad as Malfoy turned his back,

"Thanks, I don't think he would have been too happy if he knew it was my feather again!"

"No worries, mate, it was the least I can do. Besides he's the head of Slytherin house, anything to aggravate a Slytherin."

The lesson progressed without any more points-docking, though Scorpius took any chance to fiercely criticize Brad and James no matter what they did, even when Brad managed to levitate his feather successfully on the third try, which was better then anyone else managed in the entire lesson, Scorpius pretended not to see, instead he turned his back and wrote down their homework on the blackboard.

"Why do you think he hates me so much?" Brad asked as they exited the classroom.

"I dunno, perhaps because you're my mate, he doesn't like me much as you can see, and my siblings are in Slytherin, actually the way they talk about him they seem to be his favourites which means he may be particularly peeved about me being in Gryffindor." As James finished off his sentence brad felt something hit him in the back of the head, he spun around and there was a little man floating in mid air and cackling wildly. "Ooooh, ickle-firsties! What glorious fun! Did I hear one of them say Peevsey's name perhaps?"

"N-no" Brad answered perplexed.

"Oh but I'm sure I did, one of you two firsties sayed "Peeved" and my names Peeves so it's pretty much the same, and when one summons Peeves it means you want some chaos! And Peeves being the servant-minded poltergeist he is, is always happy to oblige!" With that he started flinging firecrackers all around, into classrooms, onto the floors, and into lampshades creating an enormous amount of noise, and chaos. Brad and James covered their heads with their hands and darted away blindly. As they rounded a corner Brad realized, too late, that they had turned into a dead end, they were going to smack into the wall…

But they didn't, by some miracle they stumbled right through the wall and into a moist, earthy smelling tunnel. "What the…" Brad muttered, is this some sort of secret passage?" James looked extremely excited

"Yes, yes! I bet it is, my sisters are always going on about how Hogwarts is so big and there is so much people don't know about it, I bet we have found a secret tunnel! Brilliant! You know how useful this could be if we are hiding, or running away from someone! Let's explore it!"

"Sure, hey do you think there are more? If there are they would be extremely useful for avoiding people?"

"Yeah there must be!"

"Well c'mon let's see were this one goes then!" They started to walk along the damp, murky tunnel. James lit his wand, which he had been taught to do at home by his mother. They walked for a while, through many twists and turns, up and down a bit until finally they hit the end, a stone wall.

"It must be a false one like the one we came in through. I'm just going to stick my head through quickly and see!" Brad said.

"Go for it, but don't get seen." Brad nodded, and quickly stuck his head through. The sight that met his eyes made him gasp, he was looking out across the vast expanse of the great hall. It was strange to see it so empty when he had so far, only seen it full of students and food. He was high up, but when he glanced down he could see a clever scattering of foot, and hand holds for climbing down if need be. He pulled his head back and James had a look. "Wow, that's brilliant, we've got to remember just were this is! Hey after Defence Against the Dark Arts, which is in about ten minutes lets come back and bring some things in here, you know, make it like a hideout it cane be our base when we look for other passages!"

"Sounds good, okay let's go to class, then come back!" They turned round and headed back, the tunnel had already wiped the bad memory of his first class clean from his head.


	8. Chapter 8: What the Cat Dragged in

Chapter 8: What the cat dragged in…

It had been almost a week since their first lesson with Professor Malfoy and Brad had come to understand that not all teachers at the school were like that, in fact most of them were extremely pleasant. His favourite was by far Defence Against the Dark Arts, taught by Harry Potter, he enjoyed learning about dark creatures, and the fight against dark magic. Harry Potter was also a brilliant teacher, who certainly knew what he was talking about when it came to the Dark Arts, if all Brad had heard was true. He had fought off arguably the most dangerous Dark Lord of all time on several occasions while he was still at school, until, in his final year he had eventually defeated the Dark Lord. The way Professor Potter taught was also amazing, in only two classes Brad felt he had learned more from Harry Potter then from any of the other teachers at Hogwarts.

Brad had excelled in his first week, far outstripping all of his fellow first years. He performed feats of magic that one teacher had told him they didn't usually see until the second year. So all in all it had been a good week, aside from the two lessons with Scorpius Malfoy it had been extremely enjoyable. "Hey Brad!" James's call brought him out of his reverie.

"What?"

"It's Seeker, look, she's got something in her mouth." Brad looked up and saw his grey kitten walking towards him, she had an extremely pleased look in her eyes and a piece of paper hanging from between her teeth.

"Hey girl, what've you got there?" Brad crooned as she jumped up onto his chair in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room. He pulled out the piece of paper and examined it. It was folded up but there was absolutely nothing visible written on it, he examined it all over, but the ancient parchment held no sign of ink or any other kind of marker. Brad turned back to Seeker who was making herself comfortable on his lap. "Where'd you find this girl?" He asked, knowing he would get no reply.

"Ummm, what is it Brad?"

"I dunno, seems to just be a piece of paper."

"Why did she bring it to you then?"

"Again I really don't know, though I get this strange feeling that seeker knows something we don't."

"Yeah, Seeker sure has her head screwed on right." His comment was met by a purr from Seeker, "see I swear she understood that."

"Your right there, hey, what if its invisible ink."

"Invisible ink?"

"Yeah, like lemon juice you know!"

"Nope, still don't get it, what's invisible ink, and what does lemon juice have to do with a blank piece of paper?"

"Okay in our world, the muggle world that is, when you are in elementary school, that is like school before high school. Anyway, when you are in elementary school you learn about how certain substances can be used to create ink which will only show up when heat is applied, these are called invisible ink."

"Okay, so you think there could be some 'invisible ink' on this?"

"Well… it's worth a try isn't it?"

"Yeah, I suppose, we could hold it up to the fire."

"Okay, I'll try that." Brad got up, much to Seekers chagrin, and walked over to the fire. He held up the paper so close to the fire that his hands started to burn from the heat. There it was! Small letters in almost perfect ink, unlike any invisible ink Brad had ever seen, began to appear they spelt in an untidy hand two lines were written:

"_I solemnly swear I am up to no good."_

"_Mischief managed"_

That was it, nothing else, no clue as to what the words meant or what their use was.

"So… what does that mean?" James wondered aloud.

"I don't know, it seams like some sort of code, maybe a code and answer thing. I've seen this kind of thing on TV before."

"TV?"

"I'll explain later, what if we say it to the map?"

"Okay, let's try." James held the map up in front of him and was about to speak when Brad stopped him. "Wait! What if people here see us, let's go to our den in that tunnel and do it there."

"Good call, let's go."

They left the common room and managed to reach the place where the secret tunnel was located without incident, using two more shortcuts they had discovered during the week. They entered their tunnel and walked about 20 meters to were they had started setting up a den with bits of food and drinks stored that they had saved from various meals.

Brad sat on a blanket they had smuggled in and held up the piece of paper, he uttered the words "I solemnly swear I am up to no good!" Nothing happened.

"Damn, I thought it would work… I really did."

"Yeah me too…" they sat and mused over it for several minutes, Brad's mind was racing suddenly a gleam came into his eye:

"I know! Let's try tapping it with our wand and saying it."

"No harm in trying I guess." James took out his wand and pointed it at the paper in Brad's hand.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good!" For a second it seemed as if it hadn't worked but then ink started to appear from all corners of the page spreading inwards. I took a few seconds before the writing was visible:

"_Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs are proud to present The Marauders Map"_

"The Marauders Map?"

"Go on! Open it up! I bet there's a map inside." Brad unfolded it and sure enough on the inside was a map. It was obvious from the first time they saw it that this was no ordinary map.

"What are those little dots, hey! Check they have tags!" Sure enough the map was loaded with little dots each with it's own tag Brad read a random one _Timble Flintstone _he checked were it was located, it was in the Slytherin common room. "Hey, isn't Timble Flintstone that Slytherin sixth year that beat up Jimmy Firther the other day?" Brad asked

"Yeah… wait a minute! Look here are our names." Brad looked were James was pointing, and sure enough right there were two small black dots right next to each other with the names _James Silver _and _Bradley Murphy_ labelling them. James stared in awe at the map for a second then said in a hushed whisper… "Brad, do you realise how big this discovery is?"

"What do you mean?"

"This map, don't you see?! On it we can see everybody in the castle and what they are doing! This is brilliant! We'll never get caught, and look it has secret passages marked all over the place!" James was beginning to grin from ear to ear, Brad just sat there as the full weight of their discovery hit him. "How do we make it go blank?"

"Look there was another line on the back." Brad turned it over and read

_Mischief Managed_ he held up his wand tapped the paper and uttered the words, instantly the map went blank, looking just like a plain piece of paper again. He stared at the map then at James, and together they let out a, somewhat muffled, victory cry.


End file.
